Portable stoves for camping and boating use are generally carried or stored between uses, and therefore must be relatively small and light. Typically, these stoves utilize butane or propane from tanks or bottles carried inside the stove itself. The stove is usually placed on the ground or on a table, lighted and used.
Stoves that are used aboard a boat or in a motor home may present a severe hazard if they are not secured in the position of use. Marine stoves are often attached to a table or other support structure. Stoves in motor homes or campers are merely set in place as they are not normally used while the vehicle is in motion.
The cooking ranges and stoves have typically used supporting girds provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced fingers or bars on which the cooking vessels or utensils, such as pots, pans, etc. are placed. Such utensils are often free to slide laterally on the girds and are easily displaced by accidents. These dangerous situations are particularly common when the stove is installed on a boat, mobile home, travel trailer or the like, where lateral movement of a vehicle often occurs, causing the cooking utensil to slide off a supporting structure.
According to the present invention there is provided a safety device preventing lateral movement or sliding of kitchen utensils comprising a receiving member adapted to closely encircle the utensil and removably mounted on the cooking range or stove so that the receiving member is prevented from lateral displacement but movable in a vertical direction and replaceable when necessary. The receiving member restrains the cooking vessel or kitchen utensil against lateral movements which are likely to lead to its overturning. On the other hand, the receiving member sits freely around the kitchen utensil, so that it can be easily put on or taken off a heating position without disturbing the content of the utensil.
In the past, attempts have been made to securely and removably fit the rings of the supporting girds within the cooking range. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,189 to A. F. Oatley suggests that the ring should be hinged to a support about a horizontal axis enabling it to be swung up out of the way. Furthermore, certain fairly complicated arrangements are disclosed by the prior art for locating a ring at each of the heating positions, as well as a set of different diameter rings to suit a range of kitchen utensil sizes.
The present invention provides a simple and inexpensive safety device for a cooking range which effectively prevents lateral movement of the cooking vessel or kitchen utensils, and the receiving member when the base on which the cooking range is installed is moved or displaced by accident. One of the most typical applications of the present application is when the cooking range or stove is positioned on a boat, mobile home, travel trailer, where the lateral movement of the vehicle causes kitchen utensil to slide off the grids.